Too Close
by crimsonmaz
Summary: Take some fast food, a bit of banter, throw in some innuendo - voila! It's Ray and Neela! I'm bad at summaries, so just read and enjoy! One-shot.


_A/N: Thank you to the people who reviewed my first story "Look Who Came a Knocking at the Door". Very much appreciated. I know a couple of you thought that it would havemore chapters, or a continuation,but for now I'm only able to write one-shot fics. I hope you enjoy this one, justanother little bit of RayNeela banter cute-ness! Thanks for reading! _

"Oh my god, I never thought I'd see the day when you and I sat at the same table, at the same time, to eat." Neela mused as she watched Ray wolf down his hamburger.

"What, first time breaking bread with the commoners, huh?" he replied around a mouthful of food. Neela stared at him with mild horror.

"Don't be ridiculous. Although your table manners…" she let the remark linger in the air, a hint of a smirk gracing her features.

"What?" He feigned indignance.

"Never mind. I bet you're really enjoying that burger, eh?"

"What gave it away?" came the sarcastic reply.

"Well, I always thought that the proper way to digest involved some chewing before swallowing."

"Haha, Neela – you're a regular A-grade comedian."

Neela looked down at her own half-eaten burger and fries. No point in wasting well-earned money, albeit Ray's, even though she wasn't really in the mood for all that grease and vein-clogging cholesterol. She picked up a fry and examined it, the tip of her pink tongue poking out of a corner of her mouth, before taking one dainty bite, and then another, and then another, until it had disappeared - delicious, but utterly sinful. She started munching on more when her focus returned to Ray who, she noticed, was staring at her.

"What?" she queried, quickly gathering up her napkin and dabbing it at her lips and surrounding areas. "Did I get sauce on my face?"

She noticed his eyes were a little glazed over, and he obviously hadn't heard her question. "Hello," she waved a small hand in front of his face, "earth to Ray."

"Huh?" Ray snapped out of his daze.

"You're looking at me as if I've grown another head."

"Oh." He looked slightly embarrassed. Weird, Neela thought to herself. His cocky-highness embarrassed? "I was miles away."

"Thinking about Kelly then?" she asked slyly.

"What the hell?" He was a little shocked at her question. "And how do you know about Kelly?"

She let out a short laugh. "Um, Ray, I'm sorry if you haven't noticed but it seems that we're barely on opposite shifts anymore. Which I've been meaning to discuss with you-"

"Get to the point." He sighed.

She flashed him a look for rudely interrupting her.

"Well, when you have your _very_ vocal band members over all the time it's not hard to overhear."

"Or eavesdrop."

Neela rolled her eyes. "Whatever. The fact is that they're loud, the walls are thin, and it's not my fault if confidential information comes to my attention."

Ray smirked. God, it was amazing how, after all this time, Neela remained so totally clueless. He'd let her go on believing he was still into the bimbo "groupies" that came and went with every show.

"You know Neela, if you're that interested in knowing whether I'm…attached, you could just come straight out and ask me."

"And why would I want to do that?" Neela asked, a mystified expression crossing her face.

"'Cause your secret crush on me wants to be put out of its misery?"

He literally heard her snort as the words tumbled out of his mouth. A delicate, Neela-type snort, of course. "You know what they say, when two people live in close proximity…"

"You've got to be kidding me." Neela laughed at her roommate's antics. "Ray, I knew your jokes were lame, but this definitely takes the cake."

Ray shrugged nonchalantly, feigning seriousness. "Hey, you can't help it if my powerful magnetism, and good looks, draw you in."

Dark brown eyes, from across the table, looked at him incredulously.

"You're mad you know that?"

"Why, thank you, I do try."

"Ready to go?"

"Uh-huh."

"Good. And next time, you'd better buy the groceries when it's your turn. I just realized going without food makes you delirious." She said as she slid out of the booth. "And eating this junk is apparently having some sort of hallucinogenic effect on your brain."

"Yes'm, Dr. Ragostra, mam." He muttered as he placed a few bills on the table and got up to join her. She raised an eyebrow at him.

They walked to the exit in silence. As Ray opened the door for them to go out Neela turned around abruptly.

"And what rule book says I'm the one who has to have a crush on you? Maybe it's the other way around." She said smirking.

Ray shrugged dismissively and ushered her through the doorway quickly.

Too close.


End file.
